TidBITS#203/22-Nov-93
=====================
More details on Macintosh TV, Sculley's rough ride ahead, and the
Expanded Book version of The Digital Nomad's Guide grace this
week's MailBITS. Jeff Needleman reports on the rates for the
Prodigy Internet gateway (no Mac software yet), Charlie Stross
reviews a Newton competitor from Britain, Mark Anbinder goes
On The Road, Tonya reviews the Bucky, and I cover Hypertext
'93 with a look at a course called Designing Electronic
Publications.
This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- 71520.72@compuserve.com
New lower prices on Seagate hard drives in SR 2000 cases.
For APS price lists, email: aps-prices@tidbits.com Comments:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Topics:
MailBITS/22-Nov-93
Prodigy Internet Rate Update
Soft Support
Made For Each Other
A PDA For The Rest Of Us?
Hypertext '93
Reviews/22-Nov-93
[Archived as /info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-203.etx; 30K]
MailBITS/22-Nov-93
------------------
Recently, we've noticed a significant increase in the number of
electronic publications available, and we welcome them to the
nets. We recommend that electronic publishers take full advantage
of the electronic environment. Don't devote yourself to imitating
the look and feel of a paper publication - what works on paper
often fails miserably on screen, and vice versa. Electronic
publishing is a new medium, and it has new rules. As space permits
in the future, we plan to investigate issues surrounding
electronic publishing and what they mean for the future of
publishing.
**Macintosh TV Redux** -- Pythaeus comments that the major feature
I forgot to mention in last week's article on Macintosh TV is that
the entire unit is completely black, other than the Apple Platinum
dust door on the CD player. The infrared remote can boot and shut
down the Mac as well as control the TV and the CD, but you must
change TV image settings from the keyboard. The 8 MB RAM barrier,
as with the 10 MB barrier on the LC and LC II, is due to an el-
cheapo memory controller. We also hear from Pythaeus that
Macintosh TV is a one-shot deal, although future Macs may include
a new "video slot" that accommodates a TV tuner for Macintosh
TV-type capabilities or a card for video I/O.
**Martin Fenner** writes:
I have both the book and disk versions of PowerBook: The Digital
Nomad's Guide (discussed in TidBITS #201_). The disk version is
based on Voyager's Expanded Book concept, about which many people
have mixed feelings. The Expanded Book idea is useful for a
technical Macintosh book in comparison to a novel, because here
the hypertext links make more sense (you can click on most
everything, especially the index). I also like the idea of having
a reference book online. The big drawback is that these books are
based on HyperCard, so The Digital Nomad's Guide consumes close to
2 MB of disk space and needs a lot of RAM. Even worse, the hard
disk spins constantly, drawing battery power and making noise.
[Some might argue with the statement about hypertext links not
making as much sense in fiction; it's nice to see mass-market
technical books joining the increasing number of hypertext
fictions from Eastgate Systems. -Adam]
**Dieter Hirschmann** <100136.74@compuserve.com> writes:
Spectrum Information Technologies, John Sculley's new company,
might have some rough times ahead of it (see TidBITS #199_ for
more information). Some people think that the U.S. will eventually
adopt the GSM system, a cellular radio-telephony network with
digital transmission of speech, computer data, and signaling
information. GSM was designed in France, is based on ISDN
architecture, and has been in use for a year and a half in a dozen
European countries.
Within the next few years, approximately 50 other countries -
including Russia - will introduce GSM. Also, Motorola's satellite-
telephony system, which is based on GSM, will be operational by
the end of the decade. Thus, it seems likely that U.S. telephone
companies will move in this direction soon, replacing their old
analog cellular phone networks with digital technology. The latter
allows 100 percent error-free data communications like faxing,
file transfer, and Internet communications by transmitting
digital, quadrature-modulated signals. In GSM, Spectrum's error-
correction products are as unnecessary as white out with MacWrite
Pro.
Prodigy Internet Rate Update
----------------------------
by Jeffrey L. Needleman -- dmvr98b@prodigy.com
Prodigy released the Mail Manager DOS software to all its members
last week. It costs $4.95 to download the software. There are no
versions as yet for Mac or Windows. To send Prodigy messages or to
send or RECEIVE Internet messages, the fee is 10 cents ($0.10) for
each 6,000 character block, with a maximum length per message of
60,000 characters. (In the beta testing, fees were 15 cents per
block of 3,000 characters, so prices were lowered considerably for
the public release.) All Mail Manager fees apply per recipient, so
a message distributed to a dozen people would be charged a dozen
times.
Binary file transfer fees within Prodigy are charged at the same
rate, with a maximum length of one megabyte per file. That's much
better than the 250K limit of the beta test. Prodigy says, "File
transfer via the Internet is not available at this time." You can
also send faxes ($1.25 per page of about 3,000 characters, maximum
length 20 pages) or USPS letters ($1.50 each letter, with a
maximum length of four pages [about 12,000 characters]).
What about Macs? The information Prodigy supplies about Macs is
incorrect in a few ways. The online info says, for example, the
following: "Mac users can receive files sent to them with Mail
Manager. These files will be received as text files and may
require some conversion." Not true - binary files are received
fine at Macs; they just arrive without the resource fork; the
MacBinary format was developed years ago to handle such foreign
transfers. I told the software developers months ago that Mac
files could be converted to files without resource forks (like
text files or MacBinary files) and transferred fine with their
software; apparently, only part of that message was understood.
I'm now talking to the developers and have had some success in
getting things straightened out. They really seemed to like it
when I recommended ZipIt 1.2 as a $10 shareware utility for
handling Mac to MacBinary and vice versa manipulations. "It's
compatible with PKUNZIP 2.04G!" I said. They were suitably
impressed.
Soft Support
------------
by Tonya Engst, TidBITS Editor -- tonya@tidbits.com
A few months ago, I had the good fortune to acquire a Bucky to use
in my daily computing. "What's a Bucky?" you may ask. A Bucky
replaces your antiseptic neoprene keyboard wrist pad with a soft,
sweet-smelling, bean bag wrist pad. Actually, the Bucky is filled
with buckwheat hulls, which for those of us who grew up in a rural
area, make the Bucky smell like a summer field. (Evidently, the
hulls are commonly used for filling Japanese pillows, and the
company does sell similarly-manufactured travel pillows.) The
outside is polar fleece, a colorful, soft material often used to
make lightweight jackets. The Bucky ends up a refreshing cross
between a business-like wrist pad and a comforting teddy bear. My
Bucky came a bit over-stuffed, but its makers, Bucky Products,
anticipated that and provided a zipper for the somewhat messy
removal of extra hulls.
I use the Bucky at work where I help an average of thirty callers
per day with their computer dilemmas. In other words, I have one
of those stressful jobs where people occasionally lose their data
and I can't do anything about it except mutter sympathetically. I
also have tendonitis problems that flare up now and again. So,
when I'm helping a person with a difficult problem, I can rest my
wrists on that soft, cushy pad, pick it up and squish it around,
or inhale a reassuring sniff of country. We're definitely talking
warm and fuzzy here.
I rotate the Bucky with my Silicon Sports Puzzle Pad (see TidBITS
#134_) about every two weeks. I can't say that the Bucky fixes
tendonitis problems, cures cancer, or prevents global warming, but
it definitely reduces stress and makes the day more fun, which is
an admirable achievement in its own right. The Bucky sells for
about $23 (plus $2.50 shipping in the U.S.; overseas costs vary by
location) and is available in some stores or directly from Bucky
Products. Bucky also sells a shorter version of the wrist pad for
use with a mouse, and given the difficulty of keeping one's wrist
straight while using a mouse, I imagine the mouse wrist pad ($16)
would be equally as useful. Highly recommended, especially if you
don't already use a good wrist pad.
Bucky Products -- 800/MY-BUCKY -- 206/545-8790
206/545-0729 (fax)
Made For Each Other
-------------------
by Mark H. Anbinder, News Editor -- mha@baka.ithaca.ny.us
Technical Support Coordinator, BAKA Computers
With the demise of Norton Essentials for PowerBook, CPU clearly
owns the title for the most full-featured PowerBook utilities
package. Not content with that knowledge, Connectix has
significantly enhanced CPU's already hefty feature set with the
addition of On The Road, a separate but complementary package.
Released this past January by Palomar Software, On The Road is an
innovative package that automatically determines a PowerBook's
location on wakeup or startup, and accordingly, automatically
selects a printer at that location, mounts file server volumes,
and enables or disables faxing. When a printer isn't available, it
defers new print jobs until one is available (and the jobs are
then printed), and it similarly puts off faxes until you attach a
phone line. For owners of the PowerBook 100, 140, 145, and 170, On
The Road provides the features (and then some) of Apple's
AutoRemounter Control Panel, which works only on the newer
PowerBooks.
As a result, you can print documents regardless of whether a
printer is nearby, and send faxes with no phone line in sight. The
actual printing and faxing happen later, again automatically; the
software remembers a preferred printer for each location and
selects it for you when you hook up, without the usual trip to the
Chooser.
All this is nifty, but now that the program has been linked with
CPU (and the product has been acquired by Connectix) it really
shines.
CPU allows several different sets of configuration options. One
good approach is to have one set for the office, another for home,
and another for when you're at neither location. On The Road now
sports the ability to change sets for you, an operation which
previously could only be performed manually. Duo owners who have
significantly different environments when on the road and when
docked will appreciate this feature.
A single program combining all the features of both On The Road
and CPU would be wonderful, and we wouldn't be surprised to see
such an application in the future. For now, though, the
combination works marvelously. Have one? Buy the other. Have
neither? Buy both! Each costs $99, but owners of either may now
purchase the other from Connectix for $29.95.
You can also buy On The Road online for $39. Add $4 for shipping
in North America, $10 for international orders (for one or more),
and if you're in California, add 8.5 percent sales tax. To order,
send your name, organization, street address, city, state, zip,
and phone number; email address, credit card type (Visa,
MasterCard, or American Express), number, and expiration date to
Connectix at an electronic address below.
Joel West, president of Palomar, explained that the company
decided to focus on printing technologies (the core of their
business), and "When we evaluated all alternatives, we felt that
On The Road and its customers would be best served by Connectix,
the clear leader in PowerBook utilities."
Connectix -- 800/950-5880 -- 415/571-5100 -- 415/571-5195 (fax)
connectix@aol.com -- 75300.1546@compuserve.com
Information from:
Connectix propaganda
A PDA For The Rest Of Us?
-------------------------
by Charlie Stross -- charless@sco.com
Now the smoke's settling and the mirrors have been removed, many
people are disappointed with the Newton. Sure it's a great idea
and the start of something important, but the killer applications
have yet to appear. It's also too expensive to fit the pocket-book
budget - at least if you live in the U.K.
However, there's at least one alternative that might be worth a
look if you're not afraid of a palmtop that looks like a computer.
I'm talking about the Psion Series 3a palmtop. Psion is a British
company that has been making small palmtops and portables since
about 1984. Their earlier machines were frequently non-standard,
over-engineered, and tended to sell to niche markets (like VARs in
the retail data capture area) - until Psion introduced the Series
3 in 1991. This was Psion's palmtop for the rest of us. Weighing
in at six ounces and sized to fit a hip pocket, the Series 3 was
no larger than a pocket calculator but boasted a built-in suite of
applications, a multi-tasking operating system, connectivity to PC
and Macintosh, and a graphical interface. The new Series 3a
machines look the same from the outside - but are twice as fast,
have twice the memory, boast twice the screen resolution of the
Series 3. Finally, they cost half as much as a Newton. The Series
3 has sold more than a million worldwide, and the 3a's sales
figures are over 100,000 and climbing faster than the Newtons in
the U.K.
What does it look like? And what does it do?
If you haven't seen one, think of a make-up compact. Now stretch
it until it's just under six inches long, half an inch thick, and
two inches deep. There's a whizzy articulated hinge at the back
that serves as a combination keyboard rest (when it's open) and
battery holder (it runs for 30 hours from two alkaline AA cells).
The whole unit is finished in an unusual mottled grey finish. When
you open it up, it looks like a toy laptop - screen in the top
half, keyboard in the bottom half - except that nobody makes
laptops six inches wide. The keyboard is a QWERTY-style unit with
raised buttons; these are smaller than normal keys, but spaced out
sufficiently that even a clumsy typist (like me) can manage two-
fingered typing. Other people have reported being able to touch-
type on the keyboard using all their fingers, although I remain
skeptical. Above the keyboard, fronting the battery compartment,
is a row of printed icons. These are touch-sensitive keys that
invoke the built-in applications. The upper half of the case is
given over almost entirely to the display.
The display is a bit-mapped, grayscale, 240 x 600 pixel LCD. It's
quite legible, even in full daylight, and is one of the best
non-backlit displays I've ever seen. It's sufficiently clear that
it's readable in all modes. You can work with it in 30-column
mode, with clear, large letters; but it can also display text (for
example, in the word processor) in smaller sizes, down to 23 lines
by 78 columns. Even the smallest text is perfectly legible in
daylight; but if you're not happy, there's a "zoom" key that
enables you to zoom in (or out) in any application.
Speaking of which, there are several applications built in.
Indeed, Psion seems to have tried to kill the third-party software
market by giving the built-in applications so much functionality
that they do everything a portable user could reasonably demand.
There's a WYSIWYG word processor that supports a range of features
including style sheets, and that can export to RTF (Rich Text
Format - if you have the link kit described below). There's a
spreadsheet with excellent built-in graphing. There's an amazingly
comprehensive Personal Information Manager, a fairly usable flat-
file database, a calculator, speech recorder, alarm clock, and all
the other stuff you'd expect. There's also an interpreter for OPL
(Organizer Programming Language), a BASIC-like language that Psion
palmtops have used for years.
Now for some technical stuff.
The Series 3 and 3a are based on the NEC V30 microprocessor (a
low-power CMOS implementation). The Series 3 runs at 4.7 MHz; the
Series 3a at 9 MHz. The V30 is an enhanced 8086 clone that
typically works about 30 percent more efficiently than the Intel
chip it's based on; it also includes hardware support for the full
Z-80 instruction set. Running on top of this, Psion has written a
multi-tasking icon-based operating system that is amazingly
economical in the amount of memory it demands. It dynamically
allocates memory between the running applications and the built-in
RAM disk (from the common pool of 256K or 512K that the Series 3a
comes with). The OS doesn't look quite like anything else - but is
certainly far easier to use than DOS, and far better suited to
life in the pocket.
The expansion capabilities are interesting. Psion for some reason
refuses to provide PCMCIA support - probably the major failing of
this machine. Instead, they use proprietary cards; either FLASH or
battery-backed RAM. These are configured as secondary RAM disks,
leaving more of the machine's main memory available for software.
The cards come in a variety of sizes, up to 1 MB (with a 4 MB card
due to ship early next year), and the machine has room for two. As
it is, 512K is plenty to work with (although the 256K machine
should be seen as a minimum usable system).
The serial interface is external, and an optional extra that in my
opinion ought to be internal and standard. It consists of a cable
that fits the Psion's tiny adapter port, and a pod containing
(among other things) some software in ROM. This consists of a
terminal emulator, a scripting language, and the Psion MC Link
protocol. Using the Mac or IBM connectivity kit, MC Link enables
you to mount the Macintosh's - or PC's - hard disk on the Psion,
so you can run applications from a directory on the desktop
machine, or copy files back and forth. The desktop machine's hard
disk behaves just like a huge, slow RAM disk on the Psion. There's
also a LapLink-like program for the Mac or PC that enables the
computer to get and put files on the Psion's RAM disks. Transfer
speed is limited (9,600 bps on the Series 3, 19,200 bps on the
Series 3a), but is sufficient (given that the machine only has
512K to transfer in the first place). The point is, the Series 3a
can read and write files that are interchangeable with Microsoft
Word (RTF), can transparently put and get files and folders when
linked to the desktop machine, and generally behaves well indeed
in conjunction with a Mac.
In summary, the Series 3a acts like a miniature laptop. It's not
quite as friendly to computerphobes as the Newton, but it's the
latest branch of a ten-year-old series, and the bugs and glitches
have been pretty much shaken out of it. It's extremely good at
talking to Macs, to the point where it's compatible at the file
format level. But its main advantages are its size and weight. I
have a PowerBook. It seems to weigh a ton after I've been carrying
it for a couple of hours, and it takes up a lot of room in my
shoulder bag. In contrast, the Series 3a isn't even noticeable; it
sits in a pocket and it's there when I need it. Finally, there's
the price issue. In the U.K., Newtons sell for U.K. pounds 750
(including tax; about U.S. $1,100). Even in the States you'll find
it hard to buy one for less than $700. The Series 3a with 512K, in
contrast, sells for U.K. pounds 330 (inclusive of tax at 17.5
percent), and a complete kit with MC Link for the Mac costs 400
pounds (including tax, or U.S. $600). The Newton may be the future
of portable computing - but the Series 3a is here today, half the
price, and well worth a look.
You may also want to check out the newsgroup comp.sys.psion for
more information. Not all sites may have this group yet, but
there's also a mailing list at .
And, finally if you search in Gopher's Veronica on "psion" you
should find a bunch more information, including pointers to FTP
sites and FAQs.
[I couldn't easily find a source for the Psion Series 3a in the
U.S., but I'm sure if you check out the newsgroup or mailing list
someone will point you to one. -Adam]
Hypertext '93
-------------
Hypertext. It's a term that causes eyes to glaze over and heads to
nod dumbly. Most people have heard the term, coined in 1965 by Ted
Nelson, but few who haven't used it could define it. And there's
the question if the term is at all accurate any more, or if
hypertext applications that are not, shall I say, data-format
challenged (that is, they work with multiple data types), should
be termed hypermedia.
Academic and semantic quibbling aside, the basic idea behind
hypertext is non-linear text, or more commonly, chunks of text
linked in numerous ways (feel free, as I said, to substitute
graphics or sounds or video for "text"). The widening range of the
hypertext field came clear at last week's fifth annual Hypertext
'93 conference, put on by the Association for Computing Machinery.
Topics ranged from hypertext help systems to hypertext fiction to
massive corporate infobases and all the way up to something termed
a "massively-parallel, immense-scale, widely-distributed,
international digital library." These people don't think small.
Perhaps the most interesting meta-conversation of the conference
came when I was hanging out in the lobby area waiting for a
session. Several of the conference organizers were talking, and
mentioned that the courses, for which participants paid fairly big
bucks, were crammed. In contrast, the "pure" research parts of the
conference had poorer registration levels. Because of this, future
conferences will probably better mix the courses and the research
presentations to encourage users to stick around after the courses
(this year the courses were all held Sunday and Monday, and a
significant number of attendees left after Monday's sessions). So
it goes.
Designing Electronic Publications
The first interesting course was "Designing Electronic
Publications: How We Do It," given by Paul Kahn and Krzysztof Lenk
of Dynamic Designs. Kahn and Lenk discussed the evolution of
visual methods of presenting information in context to how these
methods are used in today's graphical environments, concentrating
of course on hypertext systems. They posited that everything is
communicated visually by some combination of symbol and
representation; that is, you must have a symbol, and for the
communication to be successful, that symbol must represent
something in the real world, or at least an abstraction the user
can mentally grasp. With that basis, they went on to discuss
methods of dealing with limited space - despite 21" monitors, the
computer screen is always a window to a larger world. Think of it
as the tyranny of the desktop. Like so many things, however, it
turns out that the methods we use to present information in that
limited space reflect traditional methods handling the same
problems in art. Such methods include using multiple points of
view (SimEarth, or any multiple window environment with updates in
each window), raising the physical point of view to look down on a
larger area (SimCity), using relative size of element to indicate
relative importance (think of the different sizes of icons
available in FirstClass), and merely the brute force method of
cramming information together (compare less-spacious art museums
of old with a thumbnail view in Aldus Fetch).
Interestingly, techniques like the vanishing point perspective
common in the Western tradition are often ineffective in the
electronic environment. In contrast, Chinese perspective is
generally flat, and although perhaps less realistic, better
conveys the same amount of information in limited space. Compare
SimCity with A-Train for an example of this.
One of the most intriguing points Kahn made is that the concept of
multiple windows is by no means new, and has been used in the art
of various cultures for hundreds of years. With that in mind, the
current legal wrangling over who owns what sort of graphical look
and feel seems even more stupid than normal. The parallel with art
goes a long way, even as far as using the image of a hand as a
spatial indicator. The hand cursor in HyperCard was probably not
coincidental.
Kahn also focused in on the use of text on screen. Although many
paper-based designs and concepts translate badly to the electronic
environment, typographical rules about white space, line length,
and text color (the overall blackness of a text chunk) still
apply. Kahn found that relatively short (60 characters or so, no
more than 80, just as on paper) lines work best, with plenty of
white space on either side of the text and with slightly larger
than standard leading, say 12 point text on 17 point leading.
Being unable to control those variables can hurt the visual
display of on-screen text, and this might contribute to the
impression that electronic text is somehow less professional than
printed text.
After looking at text, Kahn discussed the role of color and icons
in interface. Colors are often overdone, and he said that he
usually stuck to no more than two colors, or four when dealing
with the inherent colors in Windows, for instance. Colors have
different psychological weights, so using lots of different colors
constantly distracts the eye. That's undoubtedly one reason Apple
chose to use subtle spot color in the Macintosh interface, rather
than the garish full-color look of Windows. Speaking of Windows,
Kahn went on to condemn the overuse of 3-D in icons and controls.
Careful use can enhance the interface by visually distinguishing
elements, but after a point, which Microsoft hit about a year ago,
3-D controls merely confuse even further. These points apply
especially to icons, which are also often overused in today's
graphical interfaces since it's difficult to create icons that
novices will understand quickly and that experts will be able to
use effectively every day. A friend once proposed writing an
article (that he's never written) entitled "The Icon as Haiku."
Given the proliferation of utterly incomprehensible toolbars (what
do these people think a menu is for?), I'd love to see more
thought on when icons are appropriate and ways of creating more
useful ones.
Turning finally to hypertext presentation, Kahn looked at various
different ways of portraying the space - global maps, local maps,
or hierarchical trees. None of these methods are entirely
satisfactory, and most current hypertext systems use a combination
of them. The manner of specifying links, either by color, style,
or font also seems not entirely satisfactory, and although he
wouldn't commit to it, Kahn seemed to prefer the use of background
color to indicate links. When looking at the overall presentation
of the onscreen information, he reiterated the point I made at the
beginning of this issue - that paper presentation and electronic
presentation are two completely different beasts, and must be
treated as such.
I obviously cannot hope to completely represent the three-plus
hours of the talk, but for those who design electronic interfaces,
and for those who, like me, merely use them, these points are well
worth considering at length before foisting an ugly and useless
interface on the world.
Reviews/22-Nov-93
-----------------
* MacWEEK -- 15-Nov-93, Vol. 7, #45
WordPerfect 3.0 -- pg. 77
MacTools 3.0 -- pg. 77
Kodak 450GL Color Printer -- pg. 80
Aperture 4.0.2 -- pg. 82
* InfoWorld -- 15-Nov-93, Vol. 15, #46
OptiMem -- pg. 177
$$
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